Bottled Up Stress? –
Nov. 26, 2019 – Overall, most age groups of both genders saw increases in binge drinking from 2006 to 2018, with the unhealthy behavior still more common among men than women. The researchers looked at data from the National Health Interview Survey from 2006 to 2018, which included information on 239,944 adults ages 18 to 55. Responses were broken down by gender and three age groups: 18 to 29, 30 to 44, and 45 to 55.
In the two older groups, researchers saw increases in binge drinking across the board. For example, among women 30 to 44 in 2006, about 17 percent of moms reported binge drinking, McKetta noted. By 2018 that number had risen to 32 percent. But childless women in the same age group also saw an increase: In 2006, about 26 percent reported binge drinking, and by 2018 that number had risen to 44 percent, she said.
In one of the younger groups, the researchers spotted another intriguing finding: Binge drinking among men 18 to 29 who had children actually declined during the 12-year period, the only group to do so. In fact, the numbers of young dads who binge drank dropped so much that by around 2012, childless women in that age group were bingeing more than the dads.
